"WINE IS THE MOST
HEALTHFUL AND HYGIENIC OF BEVERAGES... Louis Pasteur" The
fermenting of grapes and grape juice into
wine, is a natural process that has been enjoyed by man for
thousands of years. The choices made in the vineyard and winery are of
relevant to the wine enthusiast as they directly affect the final
product. There is an unprecedented array of choices that will affect the
way the wine tastes.

WINE PRODUCTION
PROCESSwine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the
fermentation of the juice of fruits, usually grapes following the
classic wine manufacturing process: HARVESTING, CRUSHING, JUICE
SEPARATION, PRESSING, FERMENTATION, MUST TREATMENT, CLARIFICATION,
FINISHING, FILTRATION, CENTRIFUGATION and REFRIGERATION

TASTING WINE drinking, tasting and most
importantly enjoying wine need not be such a production. In fact,
tasting wine is like any other skill that can be enjoyed on many
different levels: LOOKING, SMELLING AND DRINK TASTING

GRAPES HARVESTING grapes are harvested from
vineyards as ingredient for making wine. The grapes must be fresh and
fully ripened for them to be the preferred raw material for wine making.
Because of the effect upon grape composition, proper timing of the
harvest is of great importance. Premature harvesting results in thin,
low-alcohol wines. Late harvesting may yield high-alcohol, low-acid
wines.

CRUSHING modern mechanized
wine production crushes and removes the stems at the same time. A
crusher-stemmer machine consists of a perforated cylinder containing
paddles revolving at 600 to 1,200 revolutions per minute. The grapes are
crushed and fall through the cylinder perforations. Most of the stems
pass out of the end of the cylinder. A roller-crusher may also be used.
Ancient methods of crushing with the feet or treading with shoes are
rare, but still acceptable

PRESSING AND GRAPE's JUICE SEPARATION the
crushed grapes are placed in a press. The traditional basket press is
gradually being replaced by a horizontal basket press, which applies
pressure from both ends. Continuous screw-type presses are also employed,
especially for drained pulp. Continuous presses are practical in
production of red wines, in which skins, seeds, and juices are all
fermented together.

MUST TREATMENT White musts
are often cloudy and settling is desirable to allow separation of the
suspended materials. Such measures as prior addition of sulfur dioxide
and lowering of the temperature during settling help prevent
fermentation and allow the suspended material to settle normally. In
many areas wineries centrifuge the white must to remove the solids

FERMENTATION The process of alcoholic
fermentation requires careful control for the production of high quality
wines. Requirements include suppression of the growth of undesirable
microorganisms, presence of adequate numbers of desirable yeasts, proper
nutrition for yeast growth, temperature control for prevention of
excessive heat, prevention of oxidation, and proper management of the
cap of skins floating in red musts. Temperature control in fermentation
is necessary to (1) facilitate yeast growth, (2) extract flavors and
colors from the skins, (3) permit accumulation of desirable by-products,
and (4) prevent undue rise in temperature, killing the yeast cells

CLARIFICATION some wines, particularly in
warm regions or when large tanks are used, may remain somewhat cloudy
for long periods. Removal of the suspended material during aging is
called clarification

FINISHING Fining is an
ancient practice in which a material that aids clarification is added to
the wine. The main processes involved are adsorption, chemical reaction
and adsorption, and possibly physical movementFILTRATION ancient practice to remove
yeast cells and most bacterial cells, early filters consisted of rough
cloth-covered screens through which the wine was poured

CENTRIFUGATION, or
high-speed spinning, used to clarify musts, is also applied to wines
that are difficult to clarify by other means. This operation requires
careful control to avoid undue oxidation and loss of alcohol during the
processREFRIGERATION aids wine clarification
in several ways. Temperature reduction often prevents both yeast growth
and the evolution of carbon dioxide, which tends to keep the yeast cells
suspended

WINE HISTORY 4000 BC certainly wine, as
a natural phase of grape spoilage, was "discovered" by accident and is
not an invention of man. It is established that grape cultivation and
wine drinking had started by about 4000 BC and possibly as early as 6000
BC. The first developments were around the Caspian Sea and in
Mesopotamia, near present-day Iran. Texts from tombs in ancient Egypt
prove that wine was in use there around 2700 to 2500 BC...

WINE PROCESS ORIGIN priests and royalty were using wine. The Egyptians developed the first
arbors and pruning methods. Archeological excavations have uncovered
many sites with sunken jars, so the effects of temperature on stored
wine were probably known..

WINE GRAPE VARIETIES wine is usually made from
one or more grape varieties of the European species, Vitis vinifera.
When one of these varieties, such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, or Merlot,
for example, is used as the predominant grape (usually defined by law as
a minimum of 75 or 85%) the result is a varietal wine, as opposed to a
blended wine. Blended wines are in no way inferior to varietal wines;
indeed, some of the world's most valued and expensive wines from the
Bordeaux, Rioja or Tuscany regions, are a blend of several grape
varieties of the same vintage..